South Africa to go into nationwide lockdown from Thursday
Mogomotsi Magome | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 7 months AGO
A minibus taxi driver wearing a face musk looks on during his journey in Kwa-Thema east of Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, March 17, 2020. President Cyril Ramaphosa said all schools will be closed for 30 days from Wednesday and he banned all public gatherings of more than 100 people. South Africa will close 35 of its 53 land borders and will intensify screening at its international airports. For most people, the new COVID-19 coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Train commuters hold on to the side of an overcrowded passenger train in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, March 16, 2020. South Africa will revoke nearly 10,000 visas issued this year to people from China and Iran, and visas will now be required for other high-risk countries that had been visa-free, including Italy and the United States. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems.(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Train commuters hold on to the side of an overcrowded passenger train in Soweto, South Africa, Monday, March 16, 2020. South Africa will revoke nearly 10,000 visas issued this year to people from China and Iran, and visas will now be required for other high-risk countries that had been visa-free, including Italy and the United States. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A man carrying plastic bags walks past a mural outside the Wits University school of art in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, March 16, 2020. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster. Ramaphosa said all schools will be closed for 30 days from Wednesday and he banned all public gatherings of more than 100 people. South Africa will close 35 of its 53 land borders and will intensify screening at its international airports. For most people, the new COVID-19 coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Phot…
A barber wearing wearing a surgical mask at a hair salon in Soweto, South Africa, Thursday, March 19, 2020. For most people the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For others it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A masked shopper leaves a virtually empty shopping mall in Johannesburg, Sunday, March 22, 2020. There is a noticeable drop in crowds of shoppers at malls due the spread of the coronavirus. For most people the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms . For others it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)
Elderly customers line at the checkout point in a Johannesburg supermarket Wednesday, March 18, 2020, amid panic-buying due to the new coronavirus outbreak. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)
People travel by canoe in the floating slum of Makoko in Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday March 21, 2020. Lockdowns have begun in Africa as coronavirus cases rise above 1,000, while Nigeria on Saturday announced it is closing airports to all incoming international flights for one month in the continent's most populous country. Concerns are mounting for the welfare of Nigeria's most vulnerable community on stilts over spread of Covid-19 with little or no chances for social distancing as confirmed positive cases of the disease is on the rise. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Children pull out a canoe in the floating slum of Makoko in Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday March 21, 2020. Lockdowns have begun in Africa as coronavirus cases rise above 1,000, while Nigeria on Saturday announced it is closing airports to all incoming international flights for one month in the continent's most populous country. Concerns are mounting for the welfare of Nigeria's most vulnerable community on stilts over spread of Covid-19 with little or no chances for social distancing as confirmed positive cases of the disease is on the rise. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
South African police walk through the Rosebank mall in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday March 23, 2020. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is to address the nation later in the day to announce the latest measures taken to control the spread of the coronavirus in South Africa. For most people the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For others it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
South African troops arrive at the Rand Light Infantry barracks in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, March 23, 2020. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is to address the nation later in the day to announce the latest measures taken to mitigate the spread to the coronavirus in South Africa. For most people the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For others it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
People travel by canoe in the floating slum of Makoko in Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday March 21, 2020. Lockdowns have begun in Africa as coronavirus cases rise above 1,000, while Nigeria on Saturday announced it is closing airports to all incoming international flights for one month in the continent's most populous country. Concerns are mounting for the welfare of Nigeria's most vulnerable community on stilts over spread of Covid-19 with little or no chances for social distancing as confirmed positive cases of the disease is on the rise. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
People travel by canoe in the floating slum of Makoko in Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday March 21, 2020. Lockdowns have begun in Africa as coronavirus cases rise above 1,000, while Nigeria on Saturday announced it is closing airports to all incoming international flights for one month in the continent's most populous country. Concerns are mounting for the welfare of Nigeria's most vulnerable community on stilts over spread of Covid-19 with little or no chances for social distancing as confirmed positive cases of the disease is on the rise. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A shopper walks through the Rosebank shopping mall in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday March 23, 2020. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is to address the nation later in the day to announce the latest measures taken to control the spread to the coronavirus in South Africa. For most people the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For others it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A man shelters from the rain with plastic bags, at a market in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, March 23, 2020. South Africa, Africa's most industralized economy and a nation of 57 million people, will to go into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days from Thursday to fight the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A man wearing a mask, walks on the street in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, March 23, 2020. South Africa, Africa's most industralized economy and a nation of 57 million people, will to go into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days from Thursday to fight the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa, Africa's most industrialized economy and a nation of 57 million people, will to go into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days starting Thursday to try to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, the president said Monday.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the measures in response to the increase of COVID-19 cases to 402. South Africa will be the third country in Africa to close down all but essential economic activity, after Rwanda and Tunisia.
South Africa's coronavirus cases jumped by 47% on Monday from the day before with 128 new cases, increasing worries of exponential growth and making it the country with the most cases in Africa, taking over from Egypt.
More than half of South Africa's total cases are in Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, the country's largest city with 5.7 million people, and the capital, Pretoria, with 2.4 million, according to figures released by the Health Ministry.
South Africa has not registered a known death from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus. Officials have said the majority of people infected were travelers from Europe and other countries, although the number of cases that are locally transmitted is rising. South Africa's crowded working class residential areas and packed commuter trains and minivan taxis are expected to contribute to the spread of COVID-19.
Ramaphosa said the lockdown would be enforced by police and the military starting at midnight Thursday. Military convoys have already deployed across Johannesburg.
“We need to urgently and dramatically escalate our response,” Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation.
“The next few days are crucial. Without decisive action the number of people infected will rapidly increase,” he said. “This is extremely dangerous for a population like ours, which has a a large number of people with suppressed immunity because of HIV and TB, and high levels of poverty and malnutrition.”
All South Africans will be required to stay home except for those working in essential services, including healthcare providers, workers in the security industry and those involved in the production and distribution of food, power and medical products, the president said.
Individuals will only be allowed to leave home "under strictly controlled circumstances" to access goods such as medical supplies and food, he said. Banks, supermarkets and gas stations will be allowed to continue operations.
"This nationwide lockdown is necessary to fundamentally disrupt the chain of transmission across society," Ramaphosa said.
South Africa has overtaken Egypt, which has 327 cases, to become the African country with the highest number of cases.
The government of the west African nation of Senegal declared a state of emergency, due to the virus Monday night and imposed a curfew, restricted travel between regions, closed public spaces and banned gatherings, among other actions.
President Macky Sall said the move was needed in the nation of nearly 16 million where 79 people have tested positive for coronavirus and more than 1,560 people are being monitored.
Authorities in Uganda, which reported its first virus case Saturday, said late Monday that eight other people, all of them Ugandans who recently visited Dubai, had tested positive.
In South Africa, the economy is already in recession, and the lockdown is expected to add further damage. Ramaphosa announced economic aid will be offered to the poorest South Africans and small businesses.
Some of the country's bank have announced three-month loan payment holidays for small businesses and students.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu quickly endorsed the sweeping restrictions.
“It is time to maximize our efforts to prevent COVID-19 from rampaging through our poorer communities, many of which are overcrowded and without decent sanitation,” Tutu said in a statement issued by his foundation. “Our people don’t have the money to stockpile food, or buy face masks and sanitizers. ... It is time for South Africans to reach across the inequity which divides us.”
South Africa's strict measures highlight the quickening pace of the spread of the coronavirus across Africa. At least 43 of the continent's 54 countries have reported cases.
Zimbabwe and Nigeria reported their first virus-related deaths Monday. Nigeria, which has a population of 100 million people, has 36 cases. Zimbabwe, with 16 million people, has two cases. The two countries, and several others in Africa, have weak health systems that will struggle to cope with the volume of sick people, according to health officials.
Africa's 1.3 billion people may be hard-hit by COVID-19 as health experts warn of the spread in large cities with unsanitary conditions.
The island nation of Madagascar on Monday ordered lockdowns of its two largest cities, the capital of Antananarivo with 1.6 million people, and Toamasina with more than 300,000.
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AP journalists Farai Mutsaka in Harare, Zimbabwe and Sam Olukoya in Lagos, Nigeria, contibuted to this report.
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